Ai-Ren

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The two stories feature young couples whose love endures through the hardships of war. Expect lots of drama and tragedy. 

Two slice of life titles with similarities in their premises. Both stories show human civilization as we know it coming to an end and through the course of the series, the characters learn to treasure apparently mundane experiences and to value life for its evanescence. While Ai-Ren is much more didactic with it's somewhat verbose narration and extreme situations, Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou makes use of more subtle imagery and dialogue to deliver it's message. 

Ai-ren and the music of Marie are both in the philosophical post apocalyptic sci-fi genre, and both are incredible in the way the story is executed. Two of my absolute favorites. 

A slow pace about life and death. Both masterly told from beginning to end.  

There's a lot of obvious similarities here, especially the post apocalyptic world, young MCs and the artificially created humanoid. Alice in hell is Matsumoto Jiro styled messed up, even if this appears to be his take on shounen (it's not though, but the MC is not high on drugs and/insane all the time), so Ai-ren is a bit more sweet and innocent. Both are a treat for "post-ies", so be sure to read them both! 

A human boy falls in love with a female robot. Both had heartwarming romance, and a little bit of fanservice, but it never feels unnecessary. 

If you enjoy the serious vein in Sundome, Ai-Ren is another great one with a similar story, but with less fan service and nudity. Be prepared to be touched though, be very prepared.  

Both Ai-ren and Sankarea are about artificially created girlfriends with an uncertain time span. Both are really god and worth reading. Beware though, even if Sankarea actually contain more fan service than Ai-ren (which isn't fan service centered at all), Ai-ren is still "seinen" and darker. 

Zettai Kareshi is extremely similar to Ai-Ren. Both stories have the main charaters fall in love with non human beings. Both stories are tragic but show a raw side of love that reminds you why we love in the first place. The stories both show you the characters emotions in a way that allows you to relate with them in an extraordinary way. So much so that you accept the fates of the characters with tears in your eyes and a tightness in your chest that feels like you are the one that it's happening to. If you loved Ai-Ren as much as I did you will also love Zettai Kareshi. read more 

Both these serialisations follow the development of a romantic relationship between a male human being and an engineered female being.In Ai-Ren, the female being is akin to a robot partner; whereas in Ressentiment, the female being is a computer generated character. 

The two series feature characters who try to make the most of what's left of their short lives despite their miserable circumstances. Both contain a unique mix of despair and hope although Ai-Ren explicitly favors optimism with its didactic and somewhat verbose text while Gunslinger Girl gives only a few hints and may be more morally confusing for some readers. 

Despite being strongly different in aesthetic and narrative styles, both do explore the reality of having a robot companion. 

Both titles feature a girl named Ai who's sole existence is to ease the pain of the main male character. Both are sci-fi and also feature a degree of nudity and sexual/sensual situations. 

TANAKA Yutaka, continues with the trend he started with Ai-Ren, with a sweet & sour story about Daikichi, a boy in a desperate position, unemployed, nearly homeless, and Kana, a ghost with whom he shares his life. If you liked Ai-Ren, you'll find lots of similarities in Kana. 

While nausicaä is an epic adventure and ai-ren is a "mono no aware" meditation, they are both exploring the existentialistic questions about the nature of humanity. Both are masterpieces.